New IUCN green status launched to help species ‘thrive, not just survive’

Conservation tool will focus on recovery efforts to give a fuller picture of threats to plant and animal populations

A new conservation tool could help put thousands of threatened animal and plant species on the road to recovery, allowing creatures such as the Sumatran rhino and the California condor to flourish once again.

Scientists have typically focused on monitoring how close endangered species are to extinction, regularly updating the severity of the risk on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) red list, which includes iconic wildlife such as the mountain gorilla and rare flowering plants such as the Bayard's adder's-mouth orchid.